JP3116482B2 - Communication device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transmitting / receiving apparatus for transmitting / receiving a signal including a destination identification code.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional transmitting / receiving apparatus will be described by taking a remote control device of a water heater as an example.

[0003] Generally, a water heater comprises a water heater main body and a remote control device capable of setting and monitoring a tapping temperature of the water heater main body. Then, the set temperature is transmitted from the remote control device to the water heater main body, and the outlet temperature of the water heater main body is changed. The water heater main body transmits the hot water temperature as a monitor signal to the remote control device, and the remote control device receives the monitor signal and displays the hot water temperature.

[0004] In FIG. 3, a remote control device 1 as a transmission / reception device includes a communication unit 3 for transmitting and receiving signals via a transmission line 11, a signal processing unit 4 for processing a received signal,
Determination means 5 for determining a destination of a signal; self-identification code storage means 6 for storing a self-identification code; destination detection means 7 for detecting a transmission destination identification code of a signal received by the communication means 3; Means 8, a temperature setting means 9 for setting tap water temperature, and a destination identification code storage means 10 for storing an identification code of a water heater main body to be communicated. The temperature setting means 9 sets the tap water temperature. Then, the set tapping temperature is transmitted via the communication means 3 using the identification code of the water heater main body 2 stored in the destination identification code storage means as the destination identification code. The determination means 5 informs the signal processing means 4 that the destination identification code detected by the destination detection means 7 matches the self-identification code stored in the self-identification code storage means 6, Displayed the received tap temperature on the display means 7.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional configuration, when the tapping temperature is changed, the communication means sends a tapping temperature setting signal to the water heater main body, so that the communication means communicates with other signals on the transmission line. The probability of a collision was very high. For this reason, it is usual to monitor whether there is a signal on the transmission line by the communication means and, if not, monitor the line for transmission. When there is no signal on the transmission line when the above devices are in the transmission standby state, transmission starts at the same time, and collisions cannot be avoided. In particular, when a wired communication line is used as a transmission path, collisions can be detected with each other, so that a low-priority device may stop transmission halfway,
In the case of wireless communication, each other cancels out the signals of the other party, so that it was not possible to detect a collision, which caused communication to fail. Also, in order to eliminate such collisions, there is a method of determining a transmission waiting time for each device and giving priority to transmission timing, but when a transmission line is congested, a device with a lower priority waits. There was a problem that would continue to be.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a communication apparatus capable of transmitting a necessary signal without interrupting the transmission of the signal when a signal on a transmission line is congested.

[0007]

A transmitting / receiving apparatus according to the present invention comprises:
Communication means for transmitting and receiving signals to achieve the above object,
A destination identification code storage unit for storing a communication target identification code, a destination detection unit for detecting a transmission destination identification code of a signal received by the communication unit, and determining whether the received signal is a signal addressed to the communication target device. And a transmission inhibiting means for inhibiting the transmission operation of the communication means.

[0008]

According to the present invention, when the communication means receives a signal, the destination detection means detects the destination identification code of the signal received by the communication means and transmits it to the determination means. On the other hand, the destination identification code storage means stores an identification code to be communicated. Upon receiving the destination identification code of the signal received from the destination detection unit, the determination unit compares the destination identification code with the destination identification code stored in the destination identification code storage unit, and transmits the signal to the transmission prohibition unit. When the destination identification code and the destination identification code match, the transmission prohibiting unit prohibits the transmission of the signal by the communication unit and gives priority to the transmission of the signal to be communicated.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a transmitting / receiving device, 2 is a water heater main body, 3 is a communication means for transmitting / receiving a signal, 4 is a signal processing means for processing a received signal, and 5 is a judgment for judging a destination of the received signal. Means, 6 is a self-identification code storage means for storing a self-identification code, 7 is a destination detection means for detecting a destination identification code of a signal received by the communication means, 8 is a display means for displaying a tapping temperature of a water heater, 9 is a temperature setting means for setting the tap water temperature, 10 is a destination identification code storage means for storing an identification code of a water heater main body to be communicated, 1
Reference numeral 1 denotes a transmission line, and 12 denotes a transmission prohibiting unit that prohibits transmission for one signal length when a signal addressed to a transmission / reception device to be communicated is received.

In the above configuration, when the tapping temperature is set by the temperature setting means 9, the set tapping temperature is set by using the identification code of the water heater main body 2 stored in the destination identification code storage means as the destination identification code. The communication means 3
To send over. Since the destination identification code is the self-identification code of water heater main body 2, water heater main body 2 receives this signal, changes the hot water temperature, and transmits the hot water temperature to transmitting / receiving apparatus 1.

In the signal sent from the water heater main body 2 to the transmitting / receiving device 1, the destination identification code is the self-identifying code of the transmitting / receiving device 1;
Since the destination identification code detected by the destination detection means 7 is equal to the self-identification code stored in the self-identification code storage means 6, the determination means 5 determines the reception of the signal addressed to the receiving device and performs signal processing. The means 4 displays the hot water temperature data of the received signal on the display means 8.

When the tapping temperature of the water heater body is changed by another remote controller 1 '(a), the remote controller 1' transmits the set temperature data to the water heater body 2 (b). The communication means 3 of the remote control device 1 receives this signal (c) and the destination detection means 7 detects the destination identification code. The determination means 5 stores the destination identification code in the destination identification code storage means 10. The identification code of the hot water heater main body 2 is compared with the identification code (e). The transmission prohibiting means prohibits transmission for one signal length (f). On the other hand, since the destination identification code is the self-identification code of the water heater main body 2, the hot water heater main body 2 processes this signal to change the hot water temperature (g). Send (h).

In the signal sent from the water heater main body 2 to the transmission / reception device 1, since the transmission destination identification code is the self-identification code of the transmission / reception device 1, when received by the communication means 3 (i), the destination detection means Since the destination identification code detected at 7 is equal to the self-identification code stored in the self-identification code storage means 6, the signal processing means 4 displays the tap water temperature data of the received signal on the display means 8 ( j).

If it is assumed that the temperature setting of the remote control device 1 is performed (k) during the transmission of the temperature setting signal of the remote control device 1 ', the transmission from the remote control device 1' to the water heater main body 2 ends, and the line Is empty, the remote control device 1 does not transmit the temperature setting signal because the transmission is prohibited as described above,
The transmission of the water heater main body 2 is completed (h), and when the line is free, a temperature setting signal is transmitted (l).

As described above, since the transmission for a certain period of time is not performed after the signal addressed to the water heater main body is received, the transmission of the monitor signal from the water heater main body is not hindered, and the communication can be smoothly performed.

The present invention exerts the same effects when the transmission path is wired or wireless.

[0018]

As described above, the transmitting / receiving apparatus of the present invention has the judging means and the transmission prohibiting means. When the judging means judges that the received signal is a signal addressed to the communication target apparatus, the transmitting prohibition is prohibited. Since the means prohibits the transmission operation of the communication means for a certain period of time, transmission of a signal to be communicated is not hindered, communication can be performed smoothly, and reliability can be improved. Further, when a battery is used as a power supply, collisions are eliminated, and retransmission due to communication failure is eliminated, so that extra battery power is not consumed and the battery life can be extended.

In particular, when monitoring important data such as temperature as in a remote control device of a water heater, its reliability is important. However, it is important to give priority to transmission of a monitor signal from the water heater body. As a result, the monitor signal is transmitted without a time delay, and the usability is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a time chart illustrating the operation of the apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional communication device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Communication Means 5 Judgment Means 7 Destination Detection Means 10 Destination Identification Code Storage Means 12 Transmission Prohibition Means

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yasuo Yoshimura 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-61-227445 (JP, A) JP-A-64- 36290 (JP, A) (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04Q 9/00-9/16 H04L 12/40 H04L 12/42

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] Communication means for transmitting and receiving signals; destination identification code storage means for storing a destination identification code which is an identification code to be communicated; and destination detection for detecting a destination identification code of a signal received by said communication means. Means, determination means for comparing the destination identification code detected by the destination detection means with the identification code stored in the destination identification code storage means, and wherein the destination identification code and the destination identification code are A communication device comprising: a transmission prohibiting unit that prohibits transmission by the communication unit when it is determined that they match.